KR20170133536A - A dc heater - Google Patents

Abstract

A discrete heating zone made of a thermally conductive material disposed on an electrically non-conductive surface; And at least one conductive trace coupled to the dc voltage source and configured to heat the discrete heating region to a uniform temperature when coupled to the dc voltage source, wherein the at least one conductive trace is at least partially A dc heater disposed in a undulating structure around the discrete heating zone.

Description

DC Heater {A DC HEATER}

The present invention relates to a dc (direct current) heater and its application field.

Electric heaters are commonly used in many applications. However, at present, there is no dc heater that can be heated to a temperature of 100 ° C or higher using a voltage of 9 volts or less, and the dc heater has a size of 1 square inch or less. These small heaters powered by low voltage sources will open up possibilities for many applications, especially in terms of space and power saving, especially for portable and even disposable applications.

For example, PCR is commonly used to make multiple copies of DNA sequences for a variety of applications, such as sequencing, disease diagnosis, identification of individuals with DNA samples, and DNA replication for performing functional analysis of genes. In PCR, the replication of a DNA sequence occurs in several thermal cycles, each cycle typically having three main steps: denaturation, annealing and extension. In the denaturation step, the double-stranded DNA template is heated to about 94-98 DEG C for 20-30 seconds to produce single-stranded DNA. In the annealing step, the primer is annealed to single-stranded DNA by lowering the temperature to about 50-65 ° C for 20-40 seconds. Using the DNA polymerase (such as Taq), the new double-stranded DNA is amplified by extending the primer annealed to single-stranded DNA at the optimal activity temperature of the DNA polymerase (75-80 < 0 > C for Taq) Are synthesized. Notably, replication of DNA is exponential while the new double-stranded DNA formed in one cycle undergoes denaturation, annealing and extension in the next cycle, so that each cycle doubles the number of DNA sequences that are effectively obtained do. In the three main steps mentioned above, an initialization step may be required if the DNA polymerase used is activated by heat, and the final extension step of the last cycle may be a longer time period to ensure that there are no single- (E.g., 5-15 minutes).

Thus, any device for performing PCR needs to be able to perform repeated thermal cycles to cause the steps of denaturation, annealing, and extension to take place. This involves heating and cooling the reaction to the required temperature and maintaining the required temperature for the required length of time. If the temperature is raised close to and / or higher than 100 < 0 > C, existing microfluidic or lab-on-chip PCR devices will typically require external heat- to limit portability and size during use.

In applications such as heating blood bags for blood transfusion or even just heating food stored in pouches, commonly known as retort pouches, large heating devices that require a much higher voltage source than 9 volts are currently commonly used Thereby limiting portability and convenience to their users.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a discrete heating region made of a thermally conductive material disposed on an electrically non-conductive surface; And at least one conductive trace coupled to the dc voltage source and configured to heat the discrete heating region to a uniform temperature when coupled to the dc voltage source, wherein the at least one conductive trace is at least partially A dc heater is provided in an undulating structure around the discrete heating zone.

The dc voltage source may only supply voltages up to 9 volts.

The dc voltage source may only supply voltages up to 5 volts.

The at least one conductive trace may include a terminal configured with a USB interface for connection to a USB port of a host device providing a dc voltage source.

The pulsewave structure may be any of the following: a scalloped, serrated, wavy, rectangular, dove-tailed, postage stamped, and modified form of each of the pulsating structures And at least one selected from the group consisting of

The surface may be on a flexible sheet material.

The dc heater may further comprise a surface, a discrete heating region and a protective layer provided over the at least one conductive trace.

Only the discrete heating zones may be configured to be disposed adjacent to the item to be heated.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a disposable PCR device comprising: a base sheet; An upper sheet having a transparent portion configured as at least one sample collecting opening and a result window; A microfluidic channel comprising a PCR chamber provided between the base sheet and the top sheet, the microfluidic channel being configured to be in fluid communication with the at least one sample collection aperture, the microfluidic channel downstream of the PCR chamber A portion of the channel includes a dc heater of the first aspect, viewed through the result window, wherein a microfluidic channel and a discrete heating region of the dc heater are provided between the base sheet and the top sheet such that the discrete heating region is adjacent the PCR chamber A disposable PCR device is provided.

The base sheet, the top sheet and the microfluidic channel are formed of at least one flexible sheet material.

According to a third aspect there is provided an electro-heating pouch configured to store a product therein, said first sheet of flexible material being sealed to a second sheet of polymeric material, And forming a boundary between the first sheet of flexible material and a second sheet of flexible material around the cavity, the dc heater of the first aspect, Wherein the heating region is disposed in a portion of the first sheet of flexible material forming the first wall of the cavity and the at least one conductive trace is disposed in the pulley structure on the border of the first sheet of flexible material An electrically heated pouch is provided that includes a dc heater.

The electro-heating pouch may further include a closable opening configured to dispose of the formulation through the opening, the enclosure being in fluid communication with the cavity.

Wherein the closable opening is configured to be connectable to the tubing and wherein the electro-heating bag is configured to be a blood bag configured for at least one of: collection and storage of blood from a patient and provision of blood or blood products to the patient .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention may be fully understood and readily implemented as a practical result, exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.
1 is a schematic diagram of a first exemplary embodiment of a dc heater of the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram of various embodiments of the pulse waveform of the conductive trace of the dc heater of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary disposable PCR device comprising the dc heater of Figure 1;
4 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary electro-heating pouch comprising a dc heater of the present invention.
Figures 5 (a) and 5 (b) are schematic diagrams of alternative exemplary configurations of the dc heater of the present invention.

Exemplary embodiments of the dc heater 10 and its various applications are described below with reference to Figures 1 to 5, wherein like reference numerals are used to denote the same or similar parts.

In a first embodiment of the dc heater 10 as shown in Fig. 1, the dc heater 10 includes a discrete heating zone 20 comprised of a thermally conductive material disposed on an electrically non- . The surface 30 may be made of, for example, a polymeric material, and may be relatively rigid (e.g., a laminate such as used for printed circuit boards) or flexible (e.g., flexible Polypropylene sheet, polymer membrane, cardstock, etc.).

The dc heater 10 is configured to heat the discrete heating region 20 to a uniform temperature when connected to a dc voltage source 50 (indicated by (+) and (-) in the drawing) Gt; 40 < / RTI > The discrete heating regions 20 are electrically conductive and not connected to the conductive traces 40. The conductive traces 40 and the discrete heating regions 20 are preferably made of the same conductive material, such as a conductive ink or a suitable metal.

The conductive traces 40 are disposed in the corrugated structure 60 on the surface 30 that is at least partially around the discrete heating region 20. In FIG. 1, the pulley structure 60 includes a series of protuberances (not shown) having a convex arc toward the discrete heating region 20, which bends in the same direction, meets at the corners, forms outward points, And has a wavy shape 41 including an arc. In this embodiment, the discrete heating zones are rectangular in shape and the pulley structure 60 is provided only on two opposite sides of the discrete heating zone 20. [

In alternative embodiments, the corrugated structure 60 may include a serpentine 42, a corrugation 43, a spherical corrugation 44, a dovetail 45, a stamp edge 46, And may be a modified form of each of the aforementioned pulse wave structure 60 as described above. The pulse shape structure 60 may be considered to include a repeating unit of curvature or flexure of the conductive trace 40 that may have a straight portion and may not be sparse or sparse. It has been found that higher temperature points occur at the outer or convex edges or corners 61 of all areas where the conductive traces 40 are curved or bent. Thus, providing a suitable corrugated structure 60 of conductive traces 40 to the surface 30 results in a plurality of higher temperature points being positioned proximate to the discrete heating regions 20. In this way, for example, using a dc voltage of only 5 volts, which may be provided by, for example, a USB port of a laptop, a discrete heating zone 20 having, for example, a dimension of only 3 mm by 10 mm, , Sufficient heat may be generated by the corrugated structure 60 of the conductive trace 40 to heat it to the desired high temperature above 100 캜.

The dc voltage source 50 may be any suitable power supply having a voltage of 9 volts or less depending on the application in which the dc heater 10 is fitted. For example, the dc voltage source 50 may have the form of a battery, or may be a USB port of a laptop or a computer or its own power supply and another host device having a voltage of 5 volts or less It is possible. In this manner, the dc heater 10 is easily portable since it can be powered by a battery or other portable device that can supply the low dc voltage used by the dc heater 10. [

By configuring the discrete heating region 20 not to have any battery contact with any portion of the conductive trace 40, all of the discrete heating regions 20 become uniform when the dc heater 10 reaches steady- It is found that it has a temperature. Correspondingly, it is expected that only the discrete heating zone 20 will constitute the heater adjacent to the item to be heated, and therefore the item will experience relatively uniform heating from the discrete heating zone 20. [ As used herein, the term "adjacent" means that the item is placed in or on the discrete heating zone 20, or that the discrete heating zone 20 is disposed above the item, depending on the configuration of the dc heater for its application It is used to mean. This feature of uniform heating is particularly important for biological applications where it is important that the item is not exposed to excessive temperature or temperature spikes, which may be a biological sample or article sensitive to heat and which may cause damage to any part of the item.

Preferably, the dc heater 10 includes a protective layer (not shown) provided thereon to protect the surface 30, the discrete heating region 20 and the conductive traces 40 from damage due to exposure to the environment, . The protection layer also preferably provides an electrical insulation function for the user's safety.

A practical application field of the dc heater 10 described above is the case of the disposable PCR device 100 as shown in Fig. The PCR device 100 includes a microfluidic channel 110 including a base sheet (not shown), a top sheet 101, a PCR chamber 120 provided between the base sheet and the top sheet 101, And a dc heater (not shown) provided between the upper sheet 101 and the upper sheet 101. Thus, the base sheet and the top sheet 101 accommodate the PCR chamber and the dc heater in a package having a thickness of less than 3 mm.

The top sheet 101 should have at least one sample collection opening 102 for placing a DNA sample therein and may have one or more other openings 103 for adding reagents into the PCR chamber. The top sheet 101 further has a transparent part configured as a result window 104 for viewing the results obtained by the PCR.

The microfluidic channel is configured to be in fluid communication with the sample collection opening 102 such that the DNA sample can flow into the PCR chamber 120 within the device 100. The portion 130 of the microfluidic channel 110 downstream of the PCR chamber 120 is configured to be visible through the result window 104. [

In the disposable PCR device 100, a discrete heating region and a conductive trace are disposed on a surface made of a thin flexible material, such as an SMS polymer film, so that the dc heater takes up only a very small amount of space in the disposable PCR device 100 desirable. The dc heater is configured such that only the discrete heating regions of the dc heater are adjacent to the PCR chambers 120 in the device 100 while the conductive traces containing the pulse waves are spaced apart from the PCR chambers 120. In this manner, the discrete heating region provides uniform heat to the PCR chamber 120 when the discrete heating region is heated by the pulse wave portion, in order to provide the thermal cycling required for the PCR to be performed in the device 100. [

If the disposable PCR device 100 has its own dc voltage source supplied by the USB host device, the PCR device 100 may additionally be provided with a tap 140, wherein the conductive trace 40 is shown in Figure 3 And a USB interface to be connected to the USB host device as shown in FIG.

In other applications of the dc heater 10, the dc heater 10 may be disposed in the electro-heating pouch 200 configured to store the formulation therein as shown in Fig. In this application, the electro-heating pouch 200 may have a first sheet 201 of flexible material that is sealed to a second sheet of flexible material (not shown) to define a cavity 202 therebetween have. The seal should be made such that a border 203 comprising a first sheet of flexible material 201 and a second sheet of flexible material is also formed around the cavity 202. [ the discrete heating region 20 of the dc heater 10 is disposed in the portion 204 of the first sheet 201 of flexible material forming the first wall 202 of the cavity. the conductive traces 40 of the dc heater 10 are disposed within the pulley 60 configuration on the border 203 of the first sheet 201 of flexible material 201. In this manner, the formulation held in the cavity 202 is heated to the desired temperature by heat from the discrete heating region 20, which is heated when the conductive trace 40 is connected to the dc voltage source.

If the application of the electric-heating pouch 200 is to store a preparation to be disposed of from the pouch 200, for example, the preparation may be a food product for consumption or a blood preparation for blood transfusion, 200 will further have a closable opening 205 that is in fluid communication with the cavity 202 and configured to dispose of the formulation through the cavity. In a particular example, where the pouch 200 is intended to be a blood bag configured for the purpose of collecting and storing blood from a patient and / or providing a blood or blood product to a patient, (Not shown) having an end configured to establish an intravenous connection.

While the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in the details of design, construction, and / or operation may be made without departing from the invention . For example, an alternative configuration of the discrete heating region 20 and the pulsewave structure 60, without limitation of the possible shapes and sizes of these features, depending on the actual application of the dc heater 10 as may be required, Can be conceived. Some examples are shown in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 5 (b), the dc heater 10 has two conductive traces 40 instead of one to provide a corrugated structure 60 around the discrete heating region 20. Thus, the number of conductive traces 40 in the dc heater 10 may be one or more.

Claims (13)

As a dc heater,
A discrete heating zone made of a thermally conductive material disposed on an electrically non-conductive surface; And
and at least one conductive trace coupled to the dc voltage source and configured to heat the discrete heating region to a uniform temperature when coupled to the dc voltage source,
Wherein the at least one conductive trace is disposed on the surface at least partially in an undulating configuration around the discrete heating region. The method according to claim 1,
Said dc voltage source supplying only up to 9 volts. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the dc voltage source supplies voltage up to 5 volts. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the at least one conductive trace comprises a terminal configured as a USB interface for connection to a USB port of a host device providing a dc voltage source, 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The pulsating structure may be a scalloped, serrated, corrugated, spherical, dove-tailed, postage stamped, and modified form of each of the corrugated structures Wherein the dc heater is at least one selected from the group consisting of 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Said surface being on a flexible sheet material. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Further comprising a protective layer provided over said surface, said discrete heating region and said at least one conductive trace. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Wherein only the discrete heating zones are arranged adjacent to the item to be heated. As a disposable PCR device,
A base sheet;
An upper sheet having a transparent portion configured as at least one sample collecting opening and a result window;
A microfluidic channel comprising a PCR chamber provided between the base sheet and the top sheet, the microfluidic channel being configured to be in fluid communication with the at least one sample collection aperture, the microfluidic channel downstream of the PCR chamber A portion of the channel is visible through the result window; a microfluidic channel; And
A disposable PCR device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a dc heater is provided between the base sheet and the top sheet such that a discrete heating region of the dc heater is adjacent to the PCR chamber. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the base sheet, the top sheet, and the microfluidic channel are formed of at least one flexible sheet material. An electric-heating pouch configured to store a product therein,
CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. A first sheet of flexible material sealed to a second sheet of polymeric material, said first sheet comprising: a cavity formed between said first sheet and said second sheet; a first sheet of flexible material and a flexible material A first sheet defining a boundary comprising a second sheet of
8. The dc heater of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the discrete heating region is disposed in a portion of the first sheet of flexible material forming the first wall of the cavity, the at least one conductive trace is flexible And a dc heater disposed in a pulse-like configuration on the boundary of the first sheet of material. 12. The method of claim 11,
And a closureable opening in fluid communication with the cavity, the closure capable opening configured to dispense the formulation through the opening. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the closable opening is configured to be connectable to a tubing and wherein the electro-heating bag is configured to be a blood bag configured for at least one of: blood sampling from a patient and blood storage and providing a blood or blood product to the patient , Electric-heated pouch.

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